MSc Political Science
The Leiden Master of Science programme in Political Science aims to provide its students with a deep and comprehensive understanding of political issues, studied from the perspective of one of its subfields. Due to its wide scope of academic expertise, the Institute of Political Science is capable of offering students an in-depth training in the most important (empirical and normative) subdisciplines of political science. We give students of this programme, within the one-year curriculum, the opportunity to study a specialisation within a broader subject area. Thus, students will be well prepared for a variety of careers in politics and public service, the media, non-profit organisations, consultancy, and (inter)national business, as well as further academic work in Political Science (e.g. a PhD programme). The so-called ‘tracks’ are the following:
In this Master’s programme, students acquire knowledge of the state of the art in Political Science. Alongside the current approaches and theories in the main subfields, the new insights or paradigms that may replace more traditional concerns will be addressed. The programme starts with courses on the current level of scientific advancements and achievements in Political Science and its subdisciplines. Students will become acquainted with important classical and recently published studies and the milestones of contemporary work in the main subfields of Political Science. They will examine the frontiers of theoretical knowledge in Political Science. A combination of seminars and the thesis work will provide students with a strong critical grounding in the core issues of both political science and politics. In this way, they acquire the capacity for actively engaging in explaining and/or evaluating political phenomena. Their comprehensive knowledge and critical insight into their field of study enable students to formulate key questions in political science. Students learn to view theory and theory-testing as an integral part of understanding politics. At the same time, they will gather practical experience within the courses of this master’s programme, for instance by writing policy papers on topics within their specialisation. The result of the programme will be that they are capable of producing instead of consuming knowledge.
At the end of the programme, students obtain a Master of Science degree in Political Science. The diploma supplement includes the specific subfield in which they have specialised (Dutch Politics, Comparative Politics & Democracy, International Relations, Political Philosophy or Political Behaviour & Communication).
More information about the content of the programme and the entry requirements can be found on the site Masters in Leiden.